[Avodah] Reading Newspapers and Other secular Literature on Shabbos

[Micha Berger]

On Mon, Nov 05, 2018 at 10:18:40PM -0500, Toby Katz via Avodah wrote:
: From: Micha Berger <micha at aishdas.org>
:> HaMagid was an shomer Shabbos *Haskalishe* newspaper....

:> Not JO. (Which also isn't reading the news on Shabbos, regardless of
:> whose paper.)

: You are using <<haskalasha>> in a somewhat misleading way. When we
: speak of the Haskalah or of maskilim we are generally speaking of a
: secular intellectual and academic movement and of people who were not
: religious and who were often virulently anti-religious. Wissenschaft des
: Judentums type...

This is revisionist. When Beruriah David's PhD paper talks about the
Maharatz Chajes as a Masekil, she was indeed talking about Wissenschaft
types, but certainly not unobservant, never mind "virulantly
anti-religious".

In any case, the modern parallel to what we're talkiong about is if one
of today's "yeshivish" rashei yeshivah, who happens to also be a Zionist,
read a newspaper -- not a Torah magazine like JO -- put out by a LWMO
"Academic Orthodox" type institution.

: You are also using <<Zionist>> in a somewhat misleading way.  These were
: pre-Herzl days, when something was in the air, some stirring to return to
: Eretz Yisrael, but not the secular or even Mizrachi Zionism we know today.

I think you misunderstand the history. This is Chovevei Tzion, the people
who brought you Achad haAm. These were Orthodox Jews who aligned with
Secular Zionism. The people who founded Petach Tiqva in 1882.

Bilu was also well on its way by the Netzi's hayday. But that has little
to do with haMad.

: The journals the Netziv read were a little on the modern side,
: moderate-charedi, showing an interest in worldly matters, but they were
: definitely Orthodox.

Nope. This is also revisionist. At least "moderate chareidi" is.

: Since these journals were published more than a century ago, no one
: alive today has seen these papers except for a few academic researchers
: with access to old library archives....

Or Google.

http://www.jpress.nli.org.il/Olive/APA/NLI/?action=tab&tab=browse&pub=MGD&_ga=2.44647777.412515131.1541534577-590544565.1541534577#panel=browse

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             You are where your thoughts are.
micha at aishdas.org                - Ramban, Igeres haQodesh, Ch. 5
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